One Perfect Wish
by HAFanForever
Summary: Arnold celebrates his 11th birthday with his parents, his first one with them since he was a baby. It is the perfect time for him to make a very special wish. An Arnold birthday story written for myself because today it is my own birthday. Cover image is "Best Birthday by Far", a commission artwork made for me by Carossmo on deviantART.


**I would have done this months before, but I wanted to wait and know for sure and still not wait another whole year to write this. I have written here a story about Arnold's birthday, which is, of course, set after _The Jungle Movie_ , so it is the first birthday he has had with his parents since his literal first birthday. Since today is my birthday, I thought a story about Arnold celebrating his birthday, and set after the film, obviously, would be the best kind of story for me to post.**

 **So here it is! Enjoy it, and please leave reviews, especially if you want to send me birthday wishes!**

* * *

In the early morning hours of October 7, Arnold was in a deep sleep and wore a big smile on his face. That's because he was thinking about one thing, and one thing only.

Today was Arnold's birthday; his eleventh birthday. But Arnold wasn't simply excited because it was his birthday. He was excited because this was the first birthday he would have with his parents in nearly ten years.

Arnold had wanted to make this day extra special for himself and his parents. While he planned to have a birthday party with all of his friends, he decided to wait and have that a couple of days after the date of his birthday. Today, Arnold planned to celebrate with just his parents and spend the entire day with them, although he still wanted, and expected, to see his grandparents during the day as well.

After a few more hours, Arnold, who was still asleep, faintly heard someone calling "Hey Arnold!" repeatedly. Initially thinking it was his alarm, Arnold quickly realized it wasn't because he realized a second voice was there, and both voices were calling softly. On the contrary, his alarm was loud and loud enough that it often startled him awake.

Gathering all the strength he could, Arnold opened his eyes and smiled when he saw the source of the two voices: his mother, Stella, and father, Miles, who were sitting on his bed and smiling back at him.

"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad."

"Hey, Arnold," his parents said together. "Happy birthday!"

Arnold smiled wider, then crawled over to his parents and leaned into them for a hug. Miles and Stella hugged their son close to them, and Stella kissed the top of Arnold's head.

"You wanna get dressed soon, Arnold?" Stella asked.

"Yeah," Miles followed. "Your mom and I have everything all ready for you up on the roof."

"I'll be up there soon. I'll get dressed, then come up there through my skylight."

"All right. Your dad and I will head up there through the main staircase now," Stella said. Then she and Miles quickly exited the room as Arnold jumped out of his bed and took out his clothes from his dresser. In less than a minute, he was all dressed and ready to go. Before he climbed up his skylight to go out on to the roof, Arnold stopped to look over at his desk and the wall behind it.

This wall was still covered with old drawings and photographs of his parents (including of them with Arnold as a baby) along with different San Lorenzo paraphernalia, all of which Arnold had collected over the past year. But now there was much more, newer material on this wall, too. This new material included much more recent photos of Arnold together with his parents, including when they were all reunited in the Green-Eyed Peoples' city, at the San Lorenzo airport, at the Hillwood airport, and of course, posing for new family portraits in front of the boarding house and in Arnold's room.

It was now almost four months that Arnold had journeyed down to San Lorenzo, found his parents, and rescued them and brought them back home to Hillwood. He still couldn't believe that this lifelong dream of his had finally become a reality. Although he was excited to celebrate with them today, Arnold felt just being with them again was the best birthday present he could ever have.

And that's why he knew exactly for what he would wish when the time came for him to blow out his birthday candles. Arnold smiled as he thought about the wish he was going to make. He decided to wait and see if his parents would ask him about it, and he would finally tell them that night.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Arnold walked on to the roof through his skylight. Almost immediately after exiting and standing up to begin walking around, he let out a loud gasp of surprise at what he saw in front of him.

"SURPRISE!"

"Mom! Dad!" Arnold cried. "This all looks fantastic!"

Indeed, everything Arnold was seeing on the roof at this very moment looked fantastic. The first thing that caught his eye was a circular table that held a big birthday cake with two number candles that spelled "11", along with what looked like over two dozen presents. Around the table were three chairs. Near the table and everything on it was the water tower, which held some birthday decorations, including a banner that said, "Happy Birthday," and there was even a hanging piñata.

"The only thing missing is the birthday boy!" Miles exclaimed as he walked over from the table and towards Arnold. On his head, he was wearing a blue birthday party hat with yellow stripes, and he was holding a blue one with red dots in his hands. Stella was standing at the table, wearing a blue hat with green stripes.

Once Miles came close enough to Arnold, Arnold allowed his father to put the hat on his head. Then Miles scooped Arnold up in his arms and settled his son on his left shoulder as they headed over to the table.

Arnold stared in awe at all of the gifts before him. "Wow, Mom and Dad. You really have a lot of presents here for me. I appreciate it, but you didn't need to get that many."

"We know, son," Stella said. "But we wanted to."

"Right," Miles said. "We know we can't make up for missing ten of your birthdays, no matter how many presents we would buy. But your mom and I still wanted to do this for you, and give you one of the best birthdays you ever had. After all, you really deserve it."

"That's true. We already know that not greedy, selfish, or spoiled, so we trust you won't be like that no matter or how many gifts we give you."

"Well, thank you," Arnold said to his parents. "Like I said, I appreciate it." He rushed to his parents and gave them a hug, and they returned the hug.

"So what do you want to do first, Arnold?" Stella asked

"Well, what do you two want to do first?"

"Arnold, you're the birthday boy," Miles replied. "So whatever you want to do first, just name it, and we'll do it."

"Well…I'd like to blow out my candles first, then open some presents as we eat the cake," Arnold admitted.

"All right then, we'll do that now," Stella said. So Arnold excitedly rushed over the table with the cake as his parents followed. Stella took her seat first, and Miles grabbed Arnold around his waist and lifted him up into the air, much to Arnold's surprise, before sitting him down in his seat.

"Whoa!" Arnold had cried when Miles lifted him up, and then he and both of his parents laughed together. Then Arnold continued to laugh along with his father when Miles wrapped both of his arms around his son and pulled him in for a hug, and Stella affectionately kissed Arnold's left cheek.

Then Arnold smiled eagerly as he put his gaze back on his cake. Stella said to him, "Don't forget to make a wish, Arnold."

"I already have a wish in mind." Arnold said, holding up one finger. "A really special one." Arnold closed his eyes, silently made his wish, then blew out the candles.

"Yay, Arnold!" Miles and Stella cheered.

"Now what do you say we get started with everything?" Miles asked Arnold. "We have a lot to do, and only today in which to do it all."

"I'm ready, Mom and Dad!"

* * *

After Arnold had opened all of his presents, ate some of his cake, and broken his piñata, he and his parents went out and around the city together. Nearly half of the remainder of the day had passed when the three Shortmans returned home at night. During the day, they had done all sorts of things together and went to a lot of different places. They went to Dino Land, the movies, the zoo, and had dinner at a restaurant. Before they went back to the boarding house, the Shortmans made one final stop, which was the park.

Although he was much too young to remember, Arnold knew from the story in Miles's journal that, on his first birthday, he had climbed the slide and went down it, and he managed to land unharmed. Simultaneously, the memory was still fresh in Miles and Stella's minds. At times, the couple thought about how worried that had been for Arnold's safety all those years ago. But now, being with Arnold again and seeing how much he had grown also made them look back on that memory fondly.

So when the family went to the park today, Arnold decided to climb up the same slide and go down it, just so he and his parents could create a new memory which they could all happily remember. Arnold climbed up the slide, and his parents went over to the bottom, waiting for him when he finally came down.

Now Arnold was dressed his pajamas and sitting on Miles's lap as they sat with Stella on Arnold's bed. The three of them were talking amongst each other before Arnold decided to go to sleep and his parents would tuck him in.

"So did you have a great day, Arnold?" Miles asked.

"Yes, Dad. This was by far, the best birthday I ever had…especially because you and Mom were finally here to celebrate it with me."

Stella couldn't stop herself from giving Arnold a big hug and kissing him after he said those words. Miles joined his wife in hugging their son, then he playfully ruffled Arnold's hair.

"Hey, Arnold?" Stella asked, placing her hand on Arnold's face and stroking it affectionately.

"Yeah, Mom?"

"Your dad and I have been wondering," Stella began, then glanced at Miles before she continued, "when you blew out your candles this morning, what did you wish for?"

Arnold just grinned. "I wished that, from now on, the three of us will always be together, especially on all of my birthdays yet to come."

Miles and Stella smiled at their beloved son and embraced him once more, and Stella once again repeated kissing him. Arnold continued to smile and laughed as he got caught up in his parents' embrace.

"And we'll ensure that that wish comes true, Arnold," Miles said.

"That's right, son," Stella added.

"Mom? Dad?" Arnold spoke up before his parents had the chance to get up and leave his room.

"Yes, Arnold?" Miles and Stella answered together.

"Would you guys…maybe sing me a lullaby? I know I'm not a baby anymore, but since you haven't sung to me on my birthday in years, I'd like to hear one again."

"Of course we will, Arnold," Stella answered.

"We'll sing you the very song we sang to you on your first birthday," Miles added.

"Lullaby, and good night. Sweet dreams, and sleep tight," Stella softly sang to Arnold, who looked into his mother's eyes with love.

"Know we love you more each day," Miles joined in, stroking Arnold's hair. "while you sleep and while you play."

"You're so sweet, through and through. We are so very proud of you," Stella finished, coming up with the new last line on the spot.

"That line is true, son," Miles said in response to the line when Stella was done singing. "Your mom and I are so proud of the person you've turned out to be."

"You've become the kind of person we always hoped you would be. And we couldn't be prouder of you. Just remember, Arnold. Your dad and I love you more than anything in the world."

"And we promise, no matter what happens in the future…we'll never leave you behind again."

"You really mean that?" Arnold asked.

"Absolutely, we mean it.

"But what if the Green-Eyes ever need your help again?"

"Don't worry about that right now, Arnold. If that chance ever does come…we'll just work through it together, as a family."

"For now, let's just enjoy being together again."

Arnold smiled and hugged his parents once more. When he let out a long yawn, he and his parents took it as a sign that it was time for him to go to bed.

"Happy birthday, Arnold," Miles said. "Our big, 11-year-old boy."

"We love you so much."

"I love you guys, too," Arnold replied. Miles and Stella then got up from the bed and walked over to the door. Before they left, Arnold called to them, "Good night, Mom. Good night, Dad."

"Good night, son," Miles answered.

"Good night, sweetie," Stella answered. She walked in front of Miles to exit the room, and the couple never took their eyes off Arnold even as Miles pulled the door behind them to close it.

While his parents kept their gaze on him until they were out of sight, Arnold also kept his eyes on them, and they all exchanged smiles during the moment. After his parents left, Arnold laid on his back and closed his eyes. In minutes, Arnold was fast asleep, and another big smile on his face began to form as he slept.


End file.
